When NASCAR first announced that it was hauling its high-octane roadshow into the tight confines of the L.A. Memorial Coliseum in 2022, the sport’s purists reacted as if someone had suggested installing a Starbucks inside the Sistine Chapel. The rest of the world watched with morbid curiosity, waiting for the inevitable disaster.

The 17,000 fans that crammed into a sold-out Bowman Gray Stadium were as rowdy for the Clash as they are every Saturday night during the season, and the track lived up to its ‘Madhouse’ moniker.